[private - Mai] Taking a break

[Chase Sato]

His stay in the city was going better then expected. He thought that after his money that he brought from home ran out, he would have to return, but lately he had been able to do small tasks for people around the city, and was making enough to get by. He even had some extra to throw around. The job he had today was simple, helping a man unload some mulch for the flowerbeds in the park. Dirty work, but at least it was easy. Zala frolicked around the park happily, playing with the small critters that inhabited there as he worked. Well at least she was having a good time. As he worked he let his mind wander, thinking back to the other day when he had an encounter in the marketplace. A young girl who was being chased by some thugs bumped into him. He tried to help her, but was kind of ambushed by the leader, and they took her away. He couldn't forget the look in her eyes when she told him to forget her. In that moment she made sure that he would never forget her.

He wished he could find out where she was, he wanted to help her so badly. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch, bugging him at the back of his mind at all times. His work went by quickly while these thoughts bore down on his mind, well at least there was an up side to it. Washing off his dirty hands, he checked in with the park maintenance man, gathering his 100 yuans for his days' work. Pocketing the money, he called Zala and headed to the closest store that looked like it sold food. He still wasn't familiar with the area and didn't know what was what, but this place seemed nice enough.

Pushing the door open, his ears were met with music immediately. The smoke that filled the air was hard to see through. Why did people love smoking inside so much? He thought it was disgusting. Taking a look around, he figured out almost instantly that he had not stepped into a restaurant. The air of this place seemed weird, there were girls dancing for men, not much else going on. Then he realized the kind of place he was really in. This is what the man must have meant when the thug told him if he wanted time with the girl he saved, he would have to pay. These girls were slaves, all of them, he assumed. This place was despicable. Then a familiar voice met his ears. 'come to buy a dance from your little damsel, huh?' the man from the other day called to him mockingly. He could see the other men that were in the marketplace that day were stationed around the room, keeping watch on everything going on. He wouldn't be able to make a scene in here.

"Guess I am." Chase said reaching into his pocket, handing the man his day's earnings. "Where is she?" he asked impatiently. He didn't want a dance, just wanted to talk to her. His mind wouldn't be at rest on the situation until he did. 'She'll be right out.' the man said smugly, knowing Chase didn't like the situation at all. Chase sat down in an empty chair, watching for the girl.

[Mai Toriko]

Mai was tossed into the attic upon her arrival at the tea house, the grunt thankfully didn't beat her additionally for her escape attempt. However she knew it was only because she was expected to dance later and if they beat her, it would be two or three days before she would be able to perform. Pulling herself up off the ground she worked quickly yo dry the few tears that had fallen from her eyes. The young woman swore under her breath as her legs shakily held her up, before she took in a deep breath and stood straight. She was used to this kind of treatment,it was just a matter of relaxing enough to deal with the pain throbbing in her ankle. Mai caught herself in the mirror and knew she needed to get ready and clean up her disheveled appearance.

Kneeling in front of the mirror she took off her hood and veil, setting them aside before she re-braided her short hair into a faux hawk, and then took her ivory flower combs and decorated herself with ribbons, combs and beading. Her make up was done up as well, with pale pink lips and lavender tinted eye shadow, the liquid liner giving her a angelic but tempting gaze. Rising from her position she moved to the wardrobe and took out her outfit, one of the many she adorned throughout her dances. The bottoms were baggy and hung very low on her hips, however they had slits running down their sides so her legs, thighs and hips were still seen. Her top was a twisted peice of fabric that tied behind her back and acted more as a bra than anything. Jewlery finished it all off and she gave a gentle sigh as she picked up the scarves that she danced with. It was hard to see the beauty in it when she was forced.

The other girls in the tea house did not belong to the master of the house. They were dancers, they were paid and acted more as protestitutes, what was worse to Mai was that they made the choice to be here. They had a chance at freedom yet chose to work and live in this hell, while she wanted nothing more than to run. Mai heard a knock at her door and took in one more deep breath before she turned and was grabbed roughly from her place on the floor before being thrown down the steps. "Get up!" he shouted angrily, "Customer paid for ya!" the grunt shouted with a smirk in his voice, "paid a pretty penny too, you know what means don't you?" he teased, venom dripping from his every word.

She shivered in disgust as she was taken to one of the private rooms near the back of the tea house. She was shoved inside and she turned, slamming her fists to the wooden door. She hated this, she would not hand her body over anymore! But as she turned around she found herself staring into the face of her attempted rescuer. She stepped away from the door carefully and into the light, looking down at him as he sat in the chair. Mai new better than to speak to a customer, however she was nervous and wanted to know why this man had come? Was he no different than the pigs that lusted after her body?

Mai came closer and stood before him, her body close to his as she kneel, her hands on his knees and waited. It was usually at this point that the men made some kind of request or simply forced into whatever they wanted, yet this fire bender did nothing. Breaking the rules she spoke and stood, turning away from him and moving to pour him some sake from the table off the side. "I should thank you, for defending me in the marketplace." she whispered gently, "not that it really helped but it was better than what most do...and yet here you are buying my time...why?"

[Chase Sato]

As the door opened, Chase's eyes darted to it, seeing the girl from the market place getting pushed into the room. Dammit, she was going to think he was just here to see her dance, not talk. He opened his mouth to explain as she stepped into the light. She was so beautiful, he was unable to speak. He definitely didn't mean to stare, but dammit she was beautiful. He could feel his cheeks getting hot as a blush rose up, he cursed his complexion that would give this away almost immediately. His body tensed a little as she knelt before him, her hands on his knees. It felt like his heart was in his throat. He still couldn't speak for the life of him, all he could do was stare down at her stupidly. He probably looked like such an idiot.

He was almost thankful when she turned away from him, letting out the breath he had been holding in. He had never been in a situation like this with a girl, and was acting so not like himself. It kind of pissed him off that he wasn't able to control himself around this girl. Finally finding his voice, he stood up, feeling too restless to sit anymore. "I don't know, actually." he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Honestly, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you.... I guess I just needed to talk to you." Wow that sounded kind of pathetic. He just couldn't help it. Chase knew if he didn't do this, it would probably eat him up inside not knowing what happened to her, or why she was in this situation. He was no savior, and definitely didn't go out of his way to get into situations like this, but this girl really seemed like she needed help, and no one but himself heard her calls for help. Everyone was too wrapped up in their own lives.

"Why are you in a place like this? How did you get here?" he asked her, taking a step forward. "You don't have to stay, you know." he didn't know the situation, but he did know that no human should be put through what she was.

[Mai Toriko]

Mai heard movement and she snapped. She stared at him over her shoulder as she stood from his place at the chair and took a step towards her. In defense she wheeled back and took a fighting stance, her body tense as she purposely split the sake and used her bending to manipulate them. The sake turned into ice, forming spikes ready to fire at him if he moved. She was breathing hard and tense from what she usually experienced in these rooms. Her eyes flicked to the futon mattress that was laying in the far corner, stained with... she shook her head and looked away from him. This young man was talking so genuinely but how could be the truth? She had been naive when she was younger, they lied about helping her...was he different? She stayed in a defensive position and listened as he spoke, shocked at what he was asking, why did he want to know?

After a moment or two she tried to rethink her tactic. He had helped her in the marketplace and come here, paid a lot of money and he had yet to lay a hand on her, taking in a calming breath she tried to relax so she could answer his questions.

The young miss stood up straight and let her bending return the sake to the cups before she set them on the table and gave him a once over before speaking again. "You don't seem to understand something. Those women out there do have a choice, they work here for pay like any one job. I however am not considered to be of equal importance. I'm a slave, I am property to the Master of this house." she held her face for a moment, memories she had repressed trying to sneak back...fire...screaming...she shook her head and sighed as she met his eyes again. "I was given here as a debt that my father needed to pay off. My life is the payment."

Mai walked over to him, sweeping a peice of hair from her face. "I am...grateful for your concern but things are different in this district. As much as I wish this wasn't my life...I wake up everyday to one of two things, forced sex...or a beating for disobeying. My chances of freedom are numbers." Mai turned from him again and tried to hide her face, why was she getting emotional over something like this? She shook her head. "I tried to escape today and ended thrown back into that attic..." she heard footsteps coming down the hallway and grabbed Chase as she pushed him down onto the futon and sat in his lap, positioning them so it looked like they were in some kind of moment together. She knew the guards peeped to make sure the girls were doing what they needed to. She heard them walk away and climbed off him, "I'm sorry...they peep to ensure I'm...doing my job.." she blushed like mad and moved to sit away from him.

[Chase Sato]

As she readied her weapons defensively, Chase almost took his own defensive stance, but fought his instincts. That would do nothing more then scare her. He knew she wouldn't attack him unless he tried to hurt her, unless she was crazy, which he kind of hoped she wasn't. "Whoa, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." he said sincerely, looking into her eyes. She almost reminded him of a wounded animal, scared and defensive. The fire bender let out a small sigh of relief as she bended her ice knives back into liquid, returning the liquid into the cups.

Chase listened as she spoke, her words causing him to frown a little. Her life was payment for some debt? That wasn't right at all. How could this be going on at all!? Her father was a coward for allowing this to happen to his daughter. Chase knew he would rather die then allow something like this to happen to anyone he cared about. "You don't have to live like this. It's just not right." He knew that there was little to nothing that he, himself, could do for this girl. There was only one of him, and way too many guards for him to be able to handle on his own. But maybe if he had help.

The surprise of suddenly being thrown backwards almost caused him to call out, but he managed to silence himself as they fell onto the futon. Which was a good thing, because they were apparently getting checked up on. What a job, checking up on prostitutes, making sure they were doing their jobs. Chase was sure the man probably got some sick sense of satisfaction from it, though. These men had no sense of honor, or pride. But these things were a little difficult to think about with a beautiful girl in his lap. He tried, but probably horribly failed, to not blush again. Wow, he really needed to spend more time with girls, he never knew he was so awkward around them. "That's kind of... weird." but then again, not a lot about this place was normal to him.

Sliding out from under her, he stood up again, looking down at her with his crimson eyes. "This is no way for anyone to live. There has to be something I can do to get you out of here.." he wasn't really telling her this, more or less just thinking out loud. Even if she protested, he was now set on helping this girl. There was no one else to do it, and there's no telling what horrible things may happen to her in the future.

[Mai Toriko]

Mai heard his words and felt a small shiver run over her spine, but not in fear. She felt an odd sense of security with the young fire bender, it was something that she had never felt before and though she found it disturbing that she felt she could trust him it wasn't entirely a bad thing. Someone was finally offering to help her out of this hell she called a reality and there was no way she could pass that up. Moving to sit with him she whispered gently, "I have a way out..." her voice was very hushed in case anyone was peeping in. "I learned to blood bend...I've tested in on a few clients recently and tonight I plan on breaking my out out of this place. But I need help hiding." she looked away for a moment and let a sigh passed by her lips.

"I hate to get you involved in this, but if i can get out of this city, he wont own me anymore. The other cities don't have the same laws and I can have my freedom once I'm away from the circuit the Master has control over. But as much as I hate involving you, it may be my only chance. I won't last another moon circle here, the brutality is peaking." she stood up and paced the room for a moment or two, running her hands over her arms to her hips, freezing when she felt the bruises from the night before when she when she had been thrown down the stairs. She seemed to be in her own little word for a while, swaying a little as she closed her eyes and heard those screams again. Little did she know, the screams she was remembering were her own...

Snapping out of it she opened her eyes and met his gaze again, "Tonight is a full moon, I will enact my plan tonight. If I don't get out, I know they'll kill me. Once they know I can blood bend they wont keep my alive. If there is anything you can do to help me...I would be eternally grateful." she wasn't sure why this young man was helping her but it was her only shot. her final stand.

[Chase Sato]

He wasn't too surprised to hear that she already had an escape plan. He knew if he were in her situation, every waking moment he had would be put towards trying to escape from this place. It was sad that the rest of these girls were here willingly. Well, it takes all kinds of people to make the world balanced. Well if she already had an escape plan, that would make things a lot easier on his end for helping her. Not that he wouldn't have minded doing it without her plans, this just made things easier. He felt a small pang of jealousy when he discovered she could blood bend. He had yet to master his own element's other form, lightning. But the circumstances in which she had to learn them weren't the best, so the feelings of jealousy were very short lived. At least he's had his freedom all his life, which this girl hadn't.

She said that she hated to get him involved with this, but he was happy that she was accepting his help. Chase really thought that she was going to just tell him to leave her alone. Which would have made him feel useless and weak. But she really was accepting his help, and he was going to do anything he could to make sure this girl made it out of this place. And she was planning on doing it tonight, even better. The sooner she got out of this place the better. "Just tell me what you need me to do." he said quietly, not wanting to ask her questions. It was just best if she told him what she needed from him. He didn't want to jeopardize her freedom with any wrong moves. He awaited her answer eagerly, watching her with his red eyes.

[Mai Toriko]

Mai nodded as she thought through how her plan could work out. After a moment or two of thought she nodded and turned to him. "I need you to go out into the hallway as if you are done the session with me. Go outside and turn left until you walk around the building to this window." she pointed to the window on the far left wall but kept her voice very quiet. "When they enter to retrieve me, I'm going to use the technique to render them defenseless. I'll steal one of their outfits and jump out the window. I need you to help me escape out of this sector of the city. Do you have any ideas of where to go?" she asked softly.

Before he could answer, there was mewling noise from the rafters above and Mai managed to sweet smile as she opened her hands to catch the monogoose/snake creature in her hands happily. "Hello Soru." she cooed, giving him tiny kisses, "I will need you to hide him under your cloak as well." she instructed. "Now we have one shot at this, I need you to be as calm and collected as possible when you leave here so they don't suspect anything out of the ordinary. Understand?" she was on edge but at the same time she felt a rush going through her as her freedom seemed to be the brink of actually happening.

Looking to the window once more she smiled as the moon came into sight. "Beautiful...for more reason than one." she took in a deep breath and made sure her strength was up to it. One shot, one chance. "If I escape, I'll give you my name. If I don't jump out that window...before you can count to 50, walk away and forget this face."

[Chase Sato]

He listened intently to her instructions, making sure he memorized everything she said. There was no room for mistakes, they only had one shot at this, and he wasn't going to be the one to screw it up. Chase nodded as she told him the plan, indicating he understood everything she was saying. He thought about the answer to her question for a moment. That was a really good question. He had just gotten to the city and didn't really know his way around that well. Where would he take her? Well it was a huge city, so it's not like he wouldn't be able to find some place. And if need be, they could always leave the city. That was probably their best bet if she didn't want to be caught. As he was about to answer, his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden movement he caught out of the corner of his eye.

Zala, for the first time since getting into the room, raised her head from it's resting position, to inspect the new animal arrival into the room. Her tail twitched as her yellow eyes peered at the other creature. Chase hoped she wouldn't try and hunt this girls pet. "Yes, I understand." he told her, taking her pet into his possession. The thing didn't seem to like him at all, and struggled against his hand as he put it into his cloak. He was a little scared that the thing was going to bite him, but it settled after a few moments, which Chase was happy for. It would be a little hard to act casual while an angry creature gnawed at his skin.

He looked out the window with her, the light of the moon lighting up their dimly lit room. It really was beautiful, he had never really taken the time to really look at the moon before. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises." he responded, looking from the moon down at her. "If you don't come out, I'm coming back in for you. So let's just try and get this right the first time." He told her.

[Mai Toriko]

Mai was shocked at his words, why would be still come in after her? There was no purpose, saving her yes but what did that gain him? Then again he had no purpose in helping her in the first place. "You do not have to...but I offer you great thanks anyway," she offered him a small smile, the best she could managed before the warning knock came to the door. It signaled that his time was up. She sighed softly before she nodded and they waited a short while before she sent Chase to the door, giving him the bow as she was supposed to before she turned her back and allowed him to leave quietly down the hall.

Quietly she waited in stillness for the sound of footsteps to fade, as another set came closer to the door way. Taking a deep breath she knew she had to be careful about this. One shot, one shot and she could either meet her freedom or her death. As the door slid open she waited for them to close it and move towards her. One more step, then another, and another. Had to get close enough, close enough for her to have complete control. 'Just a bit further.' she thought to herself before she made her move.

The guards went to grab her and as he did he froze. His entire body became rigid and a smirk graced those beautiful lips. She did not move however, and the second man found himself kneeling on the ground unable to speak. Both were rendered helpless in seconds. She moved her hands and lifted their bodies to lay on the floor at the back of the room. "Hush now..." she cooed sweetly. She stripped one of his clothing and dressed quickly before looking at the terror on their faces. It only made her happier, now they knew...they knew her fear. She moved her left hand and brought the sake from the cups, making her blades again. On each of their neck she gave a tiny cut before she smirked. Slowly she drew out enough blood to render them unconscious. Mai knew it was cruel, and painful. But then again, it nothing compared to what they had done to her. Once the men feel faint she slipped away through the window and landed next to Chase. "Move," she whispered softly, knowing they had to hurry. In her hand she held a large ruby looking gem...but she tucked it away for safe keeping.